Raffle Items

Try not to fall over from the shock of two posts in two days.  What can I say?  I've been busy in my sewing room, but also not blogging as soon as the projects are completed.

Malcolm's school is having a raffle tomorrow after a talent show. (What talents do 3-6 year olds have anyway?  I've seen the "shows" my kid puts on and no one but parents or grandparents would be willing to sit through them.)  Anyway, they asked for donations for the raffle prizes and I made a basket of kid kitchen items.  I think they turned out very cute and hope that they do well in the raffle.


First, I made an apron using the tutorial found here.  It turned out very cute and was incredibly easy to make.  The best part was that Malcolm could take it on and off all by himself!  The elastic neck strap and the velcro side closure were great touches that made it fit very well.  If you make one, you might want to make it an inch or two longer if your child is tall.  He was a little sad that he doesn't get to keep it, so I think I will let him pick out some fabric and I'll make him his own apron.





I also made some doughnuts from some fleece fabric that has been hanging around my sewing room for a couple of years now. Usually, they would be made out of felt, but the fleece worked well and I like the softness of it better.


Putting the "sprinkles" on was very time consuming.


I also made a set of tea bags like I did for Dorothy's play kitchen.




Lastly, I also made another set of salt & pepper shakers.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Yes, I did finish the dress in time for not only St. Patrick's Day, but for the St. Patrick's Day party we went to five days ago.  I chose a fabric that is great for St. Patrick's Day, but that can also be worn long after the day has passed.  I could picture what I wanted in my head, but couldn't find a pattern for it.  I ended up combining the top part of the romper with the dress from Mc Call's 6304 pattern (which is the same pattern I used for the jacket I recently posted about).  Overall, the dress is cute, but a bit large.  It isn't too bad over a turtleneck and tights, and hopefully she can wear it as a sun dress this summer.  I am a little disappointed with my placement of the button holes.  I should have made them a half inch from the top instead of one inch.  The top of the straps want to flop down, so I'm trying to see if I can come up with some sort of fix for my mistake.

I had the great idea to take pictures of her wearing the dress instead of always having photos of the clothes spread out on the dining room table.  As you can see, I had a less than cooperative model.  I call these photos, "I hate my new dress."



I hate this!



Why must you torture me so?







Well, maybe it isn't so bad after all.

Shirt & Jacket

Last year, I bought a cute pair of pants for Dorothy on steep clearance from Gymboree.  I figured that I would be able to find something to go with them because they were a solid color and Gymboree tends to recycle their colors pretty frequently.  Boy was I wrong.  After searching everywhere to find something to go with the pants I finally decided that it would be easier if I just made something.  I was envisioning some sort of fleece type sweatshirt, but the plumb wine color of the pants proved impossible to match.  I went to two fabric stores and there was absolutely nothing that was even close to the same color.

I finally found some corduroy fabric that was pretty close, and the best part was that it was sitting in my sewing room. It was left over from a project I made for a friend and I decided to make a little jacket. I found some buttons that were the perfect color on clearance for less than $1.00 and I found some ivory knit fabric to make the shirt for only $1.50 per yard.



It turned out really well, and I was able to do it for very little money, but it took a while. This was my first time doing a jacket or a knit shirt and both were a little tricky. The jacket ended up being pretty straight forward, but it is difficult to sew such tiny things. I had a pattern for the shirt, but the written directions were pretty much non existent. I had to go slowly, and figure it out myself as i went along. The pattern ended up being a little too wide and boxy, so I ended up taking it in a bit and it fits better now. I'm afraid the neck is still a little wide though. I'll keep that in mind and make adjustments if I ever make this again.



To tie the shirt in to both the pants and the jacket, I appliqued a bird onto it that is very similar to the birds on the corduroy jacket. I used the corduroy fabric as the body of the bird.